1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the general art of business methods, and to the particular field of credit cards.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Travel in the United States and elsewhere has substantially increased in recent years. More and more people are traveling both for business and for pleasure. People are so mobile that they can be away from home for extended periods of time yet can conduct their business and daily affairs as though they were at home.
Many people enjoy watching television, especially when they are away from home. Many parents find television an efficient mode of entertaining their children while on vacation. The viewing industry has grown in conjunction with changes in modern life styles, including the just-mentioned mobility.
Television now offers a multitude of choices for the viewer. These choices include free television, Public Television, cable television, satellite television and viewing over the Internet. Most viewing options are localized. That is, a certain program will be offered at one time in one area and at another time in another area. The cable and satellite systems are pay systems in that a viewer pays for a basic package and can add additional packages for extra fees. The basic packages offered by the pay systems vary. For example, one system may include a sports channel in its basic package while another system may not include the same sports channel in its basic package and treat that channel as a premium channel that must be separately purchased. This may be true even if the same parent company owns both systems.
Thus, if a person is accustomed to watching a particular program at home and is away from home and is in an area not served by the system that serves his home, he may not be able to watch a particular show when he is away from home.
This situation may be particularly striking in the case of pay-per-view events, such as movies, concerts, sporting events or the like. If a person is at home, he or she merely calls the pay system and requests the pay-per-view event and the system can bill the person using that person's telephone number. However, if the person is away from home, even at a neighbor's home, that person may not be able to call up the system and request that the pay-per-view event be sent to the remote location (i.e., a location not the person's home). This is especially true if the remote location is not served by the person's home pay system. The person at the remote location thus will be forced to miss the event, or to charge it to the remote location.
Therefore, there is a need for a method for offering home-based events to locations remote from the home base.
Still further, many pay systems are always seeking means of generating new revenue. One means would be to offer a wider variety of programming. However, due to copyrights, fees and the like, this may not be economical for some companies. However, if a particular pay system had access to a wider variety of offerings, it could offer such services on a pay-per-event basis with the cost of such offering reflecting the additional costs associated with carrying that event to a requesting party.
Therefore, there is a need for a method for pay systems to offer a wider variety of services and programs.
Pay systems are also generally looking for methods for promoting themselves and for offering promotions that increase their subscriber base. Therefore, there is a need for a method which permits a pay system to promote itself and to promote increased usage of its services and products.
Many parents wish to monitor the television viewing of their children. This is always difficult, even at home. However, it is even more difficult when the children are away from home. Still further, many advertisers and networks wish to monitor the viewing habits of the viewers. This is often done with surveys and by special companies. While these methods have proved to be very accurate, there is always a need for additional tools for determining the data associated with television viewing.
There is a need for a method for monitoring viewing habits of both children and adults.
It is also noted that many systems offer goods as well as services. Such systems are always seeking ways to improve the efficiency of such offerings as well as a convenient method for tracking the success of various offerings. Therefore, there is a need for a method for improving the efficiency of selling goods and services over pay systems.
It is also noted that for purposes of convenience, the present disclosure will be primarily directed to television-type viewing. However, while the present disclosure will primarily be directed to television type systems, it is contemplated that the teaching of the disclosure will also be applicable to other systems as well, including, but not limited to, Internet, radio, and the like.